Advances in Social Science, Education and Humanities Research, volume 329 4th International Conference on Contemporary Education, Social Sciences and Humanities (ICCESSH 2019) A Study of Foreign Language Education in Hubei Westernization Schools in Late Qing Dynasty From the Perspective of Applied Linguistics*

Huili Hou Department of Foreign Languages Wuhan Technology and Business University Wuhan, China

Abstract—Studying the foreign language education in Wuhan is reputed as Oriental Chicago. Since the late schools set up by westernizationists may help to find some Qing Dynasty, it has become a very important industrial and guidelines for today’s foreign language education. This article commercial center only after Shanghai. Zhang Zhidong, a tries to discuss the foreign language education from the applied prestigious westernizationist, carried out significant linguistics perspective in two aspects, namely, foreign language educational reforms in Hubei Province. The previous studies education as a specialty and foreign language education for are helpful in sketching the foreign language education in special purposes. Findings show that foreign language this period, but cannot match the important status of Wuhan education in schools founded by westernizationists attaching in China. Therefore, this study is going to research into the great importance to training language skills and improving foreign language education in schools founded by humanistic competence, could meet the need of foreign westernizationists, and find the nature and features of foreign language talents in business and diplomacy in Hubei, and could provide talents to meet the nationwide need as well. language education in these schools from the perspective of Therefore, today’s foreign language education planning should applied linguistics, aiming at enriching the content of foreign also help to improve students’ humanistic competence while language education in this period on the one hand, and trying attaching much importance to language skills training under to finding some hints from them on the other, in order to find the context of holistic education. some guidelines for the current foreign language education planning in Hubei. Keywords—Schools founded by Westernizationists; foreign language education; humanistic competence; applied linguistics II. THE STARTING OF FOREIGN LANGUAGE EDUCATION perspective IN HUBEI PROVINCE The late Qing Dynasty refers to the period from the onset I. INTRODUCTION of the Opium War (1840) to the fall of Qing Dynasty (1911). There is a long history of foreign language education in Missionaries and westernizationsits founded many schools China, but foreign language education in the modern sense with different purposes. Zhang Zhidong, the influential only started in the foreign language schools founded by representative of westernizationists founded the first foreign westernizationists in the late Qing Dynasty. In the late 19th language school, Hubei Ziqiang School in 1890, which is century, Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Wuhan had now Wuhan University, one of the most prestigious formed a more influential foreign language education setup universities in China. Many other schools were gradually in China, training up many specialists of the new type who founded after that. Hence, the founding of foreign language expertise in foreign languages and Chinese Classics as well. schools was the earliest one, which marked the starting of These specialists also played an important role in China’s modern foreign language education in Hubei Province, and modernization process. The 1980s have witnessed the the scientific and authoritative model to learn from for the increasing studies of foreign language education in China, other types of schools, for example, schools set up by which has also become a hot issue in the recent years. It can missionaries. be mainly found in education historian’s studies, such as Fu Ke in 1986, Li Liangyou, Zhang Risheng, Liuli in 1988. In Applied Linguistics, in the narrow sense, refers to the the 21century, Gao Xiaofang in 2007, Zhang Meiping in study of language teaching. The following parts will discuss 2011 and many other professors have specially studied the about the features and functions of foreign language foreign language education in the late Qing Dynasty from the education in schools founded by westernizationists in Hubei perspective of a language learner and teacher. Province in this period, from the aspects of English as a specialty education and English education for special purposes. *Fund: This research was financially supported by the Humanistic and Social Science Foundation of Hubei (Grant No. 17G089).

Copyright © 2019, the Authors. Published by Atlantis Press. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/). 552 Advances in Social Science, Education and Humanities Research, volume 329

III. THE FOREIGN LANGUAGE EDUCATION AS A IV. THE FOREIGN LANGUAGE EDUCATION FOR SPECIAL SPECIALTY — A CASE STUDY OF HUBEI ZIQIANG SCHOOL PURPOSES Up to 1899, in Hubei Ziqiang School five foreign While Zhang Zhidong was Governor of Hubei and languages, namely, English, French, German, Russian and Hunan, he felt a great need for people from a wide range of Japanese were taught to students, especially after the Sino- disciplines, not only for foreign language talents, but also for Japanese War, Japanese was added [1]. Compared with other talents in military, politics, industry, agriculture, business, three schools training diplomatic translating talents in teacher training, etc. Therefore, he founded a large number Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou, Hubei Ziqiang School of modern schools in Hubei after the Hubei New Deal. provided more foreign languages to students under the According to Xiong Xianjun [3], at that time altogether 46 context of great need of translating talents. industrial schools were founded, among which, 37 were initiated by Governor Zhang Zhidong. Hence, the modern Teachers came from different countries, making up the school education system had been formed in Hubei since major teaching faculty. That is, Chinese teachers taught some then, and foreign language education had also been made courses in the early stage, and foreign teachers mainly taught universal. in the advanced stage. Here is a summary of the number of foreign teachers and Chinese teachers in the school in 1899, These schools coexisted with Ziqiang School, also 1 from Britain, 1 from Germany, 3 from Russia, 3 from attached great importance to the study of foreign languages, Japan and 10 from China [2]. social science and natural science, and had become an important place to promote the study of traditional culture, Students aged 15-18 came from nationwide. They came spread new knowledge and new thoughts. According to Zhao mainly from Hubei, Hunan and other provinces. Statistics Chunhong [4] [5], Hubei Foreign Languages School, show that in 1899 the total number of enrolled students founded by Governor Zhang Zhidong, aimed at training reached 75, including 64 government-supported students and foreign language talents for Hubei to develop its industry and 11 self-supported students. Among these students, the business. Hubei Foreign Languages School, as the first number of students studying English, French, German, Business English School after being renamed, especially Russian and Japanese was 12, 12, 13, 15, and 23 respectively aimed at fostering business talents who could master the [2]. Therefore, the number of students studying Japanese was knowledge of English and do business with foreigners as the biggest, especially after the Sino-Japanese War. For one well. As students just regarded foreign language learning as a thing, many people realized the importance of knowing tool obtaining knowledge, after reforms in Ziqiang School, Japanese, for another, the government also began to attach the knowledge of science and business were included in importance to Japanese education because Japan began to foreign languages learning materials, and Grammar learn from the west earlier than China, knowing Japanese translation was the main teaching methodology. Therefore, meant saving time to learn western science and technology. the foreign language education achieved its special purposes. Increased enrollment attracted more students. Before 1899, the total number of enrolled students was less than 75, V. CONCLUSION while after 1899, the number reached 120 in 1903, 240 in 1904 and 354 in 1905 [2]. As Hubei Ziqiang School was No matter what foreign languages were treated, whether renamed Hubei Foreign Languages School in 1902, the as a specialty, or for special purposes, great attention had enrollment soon increases, even tripled. One reason might be been paid to them. Therefore, the education of foreign Governor Zhang Zhidong’s New Deal, the other reason languages had helped build the views of talents in late Qing should be the convenient transportation in Wuhan that made Dynasty, that is, from fostering specialists to fostering students come and go easily. versatile talents to all-round generalists. The foreign language education not only provided business and Course design was relatively flexible but completion diplomatic talents for Hubei when in great need, but also study period was fixed tightly. Originally, the school only objectively provided talents for the whole country as Hubei attached importance to the teaching of foreign languages and locates in central China and its capital city, Wuhan, was on a foreign technology, but after 1898, especially after the Sino- very important point in the comparatively more advanced Japanese War, they included Chinese to course design. And transportation system in late Qing Dynasty. students should complete all the courses with passed grades within five years. From the teaching hours devoted to all the Then foreign language education brought about not only courses, it is evident that the time allocated to learning talents in business and diplomacy, but also teachers that foreign languages won the first place, Chinese went after, could teach foreign languages, which helped save a lot of and then math. money for the government. Therefore, foreign language education in westernization schools achieved its practical Examination papers tested students’ vocabulary and values in late Qing Dynasty. grammar on the one hand, and translating competence on the other. Vocabulary and grammar were in fact the basic The practice of employing foreign teachers to teach language skills, and translation texts included many types of students at their advanced level might also become an writing, concerning politics, business, engineering, travelling, important lesson for us. In the early stage, Chinese teachers biography, fables, biology, mining, and irrigation, etc., which could help students learn Chinese language and culture well, could test students’ language competence. but in the advanced level, foreign teachers might teach them native expressions, especially in science and technology,

553 Advances in Social Science, Education and Humanities Research, volume 329 which could help overcome communicative obstacles on the one hand and help students lay a solid foundation in language learning and in learning western science and technology. Furthermore, the importance was not only attached to language skills training, but also to humanistic education as the government added Chinese to the course design after the Sino-Japanese War, students could also be educated to improve their humanistic competence. Today, especially under the context of holistic education, helping students not only master the foreign languages, but also improving their humanistic competence is still of great significance. Language education should never be only regarded as a tool to learn science and technology, but also a chance to improve individual’s humanistic competence.

REFERENCES [1] X. Gao, A Study of Foreign Language Education in Schools Set up by Westernizationists, Beijing: Commerical Press, pp. 177-184, 2007. [2] X. Gao, A Study of Foreign Language Education in Schools Set up by Westernizationists, Beijing: Commerical Press, pp. 188-200, 2007. [3] X. Xiong, Educational History of Hubei, Wuhan: Hubei Education Press, pp. 188-191, 1988. [4] C. Zhao, A Study of the Origins of Business English Teaching in Late Qing Dynansty, Lantai Wolrd, vol. 36, pp. 144-145, 2015. [5] H. Shen, Business English Teaching in Government-funded Schools in Late Qing Dynasty, Lantai Wolrd, vol.10 , pp. 97-98, 2015.

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